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“I’d be happy to,” he said. “But you need to call an ambulance. I think that Gloria Jean has a concussion. She hit her head pretty hard when Corinne pushed her down.”
Harlow pulled Iris from her stroller and handed her to Ryker. “Mama,” Harlow said. She ran over to her mom and told her to lay back down when she tried to sit up. “No, you need to be checked out. Just lay still.” Harlow looked up at the cop who was talking to Ryker. “That woman was my mother-in-law. Her son is in prison for doing this to me.” Harlow held her hair back from her face to let the police officer see her scar. “She’s trying to sue me for custody of my daughter. I saw her attack my mother from over there,” she said, pointing over to the hedges around her and her mother’s property.
“How about you both come down to give statements after you get your mom checked out?” the officer asked.
“Will do,” Ryker agreed. The ambulance pulled down the lane and the officer waved them in and told the EMTs what happened and where to find Gloria Jean. “Thank you, officer.”
The cop nodded and walked back to the cruiser. His partner got into the driver’s seat, and they drove away as Corinne mean mugged them from the back window of the car.
The EMTs asked Gloria Jean a few questions and when she failed to pass concussion protocol testing, they insisted that she let them take her to the ER to be further checked over. Of course, she protested until Harlow insisted that she go with them. She promised to be right behind her after they stopped by the precinct downtown to give their statements. There was no way that any of them wanted Corinne to get out of jail because they failed to show up.
“I’ll call Michael to tell him what’s happened,” Ryker offered. “I think that he’ll want to know and that this will help your case, honey.”
“God, I hope so,” Harlow said. “I can’t imagine that woman being a part of my daughter’s life. She’s a monster.” Ryker had to agree with her—her ex-mother-in-law was a monster, and he was going to do whatever he had to in order to keep her as far away from Harlow and her family.
* * *
By the time they finished giving their statements down at the precinct, Gloria Jean was blowing up Harlow’s phone telling her to come to get her from the ER. She was determined to go home even though the doctors wanted to keep her for the night, just to monitor her. Harlow promised her mother that she’d come down to check on her just as soon as they were done, but he wasn’t sure that was such a good idea.
Ryker was happy to see that Michael was waiting for them to show up as if Harlow was his most important client. She wasn’t even paying him and making her feel special earned him points in Ryker’s book. He sat in with them both as they gave their statements, and when they were finished, he filed for a restraining order for both Harlow’s ex, Craig, and his mom, Corinne. They weren’t legally allowed to come anywhere near Harlow, Iris, or Gloria Jean, but Ryker refused to take out a restraining order for himself. If Harlow’s ex wanted to come for him when he got out of prison, he’d be ready for him.
“What next?” Ryker asked when they were finally alone with Michael.
“Next, I go before the judge with this new turn of events and ask that Corinne’s petition for custody be dismissed. Are you sure that your mother will press charges?” he asked Harlow.
“I am,” Harlow said. “I know my mama better than anyone and she’ll want justice for what that woman did to her.”
“Well, we’ll get her on assault and battery, along with trespassing. I’m sure that I’ll be able to come up with a few more charges to help put her away for a bit,” Michael promised.
“Like mother, like son,” Harlow said. “I just can’t believe that Corinne would stoop so low as to attack my mother. Why did she show up at her house in the first place?”
“Apparently,” Michael said, “she thought that it was your house. Has she ever been to your place before?” he asked.
“No,” Harlow said. “Craig and I lived in a crappy, little apartment. I bought this house all on my own after he went to prison. Corinne’s never been to my home before.”
“Well, she thought that your mom’s house was yours and she was hoping to catch you off guard. I guess she was under the delusion that you would let her see your daughter,” Michael said.
“Never,” Harlow said. “She’s trying to take my little girl away from me. Why would I let her anywhere near Iris?” she questioned.
“You wouldn’t,” Ryker said. “Now, we’ll never have to let her anywhere near your girl. She’s going to pay for what she did to your mom.”
“I’m worried about my mother, but I have to admit, Corinne did us a favor showing up at her house today. It gave me an out from this custody battle before it even began,” Harlow said.
“I’m sure that your mother would agree with you, honey. She’s going to be happy to hear that we won’t have to deal with Corinne for a while,” Ryker said.
“I’d like to go check on her. I’m hoping that I can convince her to stay the night at the hospital. Would you mind running me over there?” she asked.
“I just have to make one quick call to the bar and then, I’ll be all yours,” he promised. “I’m going to promote Taz and tell him to get the order together for me. As our cook, he should know what we need, right?”
“Yep,” Harlow agreed. “You need to give him more credit. He’s well trained and cooking burgers at your bar. I think this job might be beneath his skill level,” she said.
“You’re right,” Ryker said. “Let’s get through today and then, I’ll sit down with Taz and offer him full reign in the kitchen and over the menu. We’ll see what he can do.”
“He’s going to be so excited,” Harlow said. Ryker couldn’t imagine the big guy getting excited about anything, but Harlow seemed to know him better than he did.
“If you say so,” he said.
“I’ll let you guys get going,” Michael said. “When I have some news, I’ll be in touch.” Ryker shook the guy’s hand and thanked him for clearing his schedule to come down to the station with them, and then he disappeared into the interrogation room to talk to one of the arresting cops.
